Dream about what you garden will look, feel, taste, sound and smell like

About what you want your garden to look like, feel like, taste like, sound like and smell like.

Winter is the perfect time to take stock of what you want to change or make happen in your yard. Maybe it's creating an herb garden for your indoor or outdoor cooking, designing a soothing waterfall next to the patio where you relax or putting in fragrant perennials that smell nice when spring breezes drift past you. Gardens are meant to entertain you and make you feel good.

I go through this exercise religiously during January and February because it keeps me sane when I'm looking out the window at bare roses and dormant perennials. Instead of frowning at the bleak landscape, my imagination wanders to what the rest of the year can bring — a Blue Chip miniature butterfly bush to replace a huge one that threatens everything around it or a new pink Annabelle hydrangea to join my expanding collection. That's the fun part of gardening.

As we get closer to March 14 and the start of Daylight Saving Time, I'll begin writing about many new plants — a pink petunia edged in lime green and a cherry zinnia with touches of ivory — that you can get in local garden centers, online and in catalogs.

In the meantime, here are some garden trends, new concepts and challenges to think about. Maybe you'll find a way to implement them in your yard or home during 2010.

Gardens grow upwardRecently, the horticulture world has been all abuzz about green roofs. Now, everyone is talking about "living walls," a look that some horticulturists call "vertical gardening." The technique can be used for edible or ornamental plants, indoors or outdoors. Walls of plants can be created and planted in any size and shape, making them perfect for large and small-space gardening.

Businesses are creating walls of plants to entice customers and entertain guests. For example, an Italian restaurant may use a wall of basil to greet diners or a garden center may use plants to spell out its business name on a roadside sign. Ready-made vertical growing units are available for homeowners to use on patios and decks outdoors or as free-standing units indoors. Learn more at www.egreenwalls.com, www.verticalgardenpatrickblanc.com, www.eltlivingwalls.com or www.agreenroof.com.

Gardens get healthierRISE, which stands for Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment, recently launched a consumer Web site that provides information about pesticides so you can learn about their use and impact on family, pets and the environment. The site — www.debugthemyths.com — encourages you to properly diagnose the problem before buying the chemical. Then, read the label and apply the chemical properly — never guess about the amount because too little allows the problem to flourish while too much harms the environment.

• Virginia Cooperative Extension publishes pest management guides that you can access free at pubs.ext.vt.edu/category/pesticide-education.html. Attachments you can download include organic controls for home vegetables, solutions for home and yard insects, all about weeds and diseases in lawns, problems with houseplants and solutions for problems with trees and shrubs. For $8 print versions, call the York office at 890-4940.

Gardens feed you"It's time to reclaim our land for our greater good," says Margie Grace, the 2009 International Landscape Designer of the Year, awarded by the Association of Professional Landscape Designers. "Take that food-producing garden from the back 40 and put it wherever we want. Reunite the ornamental with the edible — roses beside tomatoes, beds edged with herbs and veggies used as annuals."

Although research shows a lawn helps prevent soil erosion and protects the environment when you grow it organically, Grace is one of many who want to "de-lawn" America. Front lawns are being transformed into vegetable and rain gardens. "Hell strips," or the patch of high-maintenance lawn or dirt between the sidewalk and street, are being planted with sustainable flowers, grasses and shrubs that need little to no care.

Done something novel in your yard that you would like to share? E-mail me photos and a description at kvanmullekom@dailypress.com.

Things to doPruning lessons. Register by Jan. 15. James City County/Williamsburg master gardeners will give free hands-on pruning lessons for residents at their homes during February and March. Two or three neighbors can request a session together. Complete an application online at www.jccwmg.org or call the Virginia Cooperative Extension office at 564-2170.

Nature strolls. 9 a.m. Saturdays Jan. 2-Dec. 18. Educators and their family members can join the Virginia Master Naturalists Peninsula Chapter for one-hour Saturday nature strolls through Sandy Bottom Nature Park in Hampton. Each walk features a general overview of nature as it unfolds throughout the seasons; Hampton city educators get recertification credits. Free. Register in advance at www.hampton.va.us/hccc/training_form.php or call 727-1199 or 825-4836.

Kathy Van Mullekom is home and gardening columnist for the Daily Press. Learn more about local gardening at www.dailypress.com; e-mail her at kvanmullekom@dailypress.com or call 247-4781. Find her at Facebook.com/Kathy.vanmullekom and on twitter.com as @diggindirt.